Forum:Character Article Naming Conventions
Voting For # I, the proposer, M.C.Tales 17:00, June 7, 2011 (UTC) Neutral Against #Opposed. This can't be a blanket Policy. If there is an individual case, then it needs to be brought up on that relevant talk page. Lancer1289 17:10, June 7, 2011 (UTC) #For reasons established below. Due to monomials, canon issues with characters, and alien naming conventions, we cannot come up with a workable blanket standard at this time. SpartHawg948 19:08, June 7, 2011 (UTC) Discussion Many articles on characters have their title (such as rank) in their name, even when the character's actual first name is known (for example, Steven Hackett's article is known as "Admiral Hackett"). Some, such as every admiral on the quarian Admiralty Board, have there rank and their full name (for example, "Admiral Zaal'Koris vas Qwib Qwib" instead of simply "Zaal'Koris vas Qwib Qwib"), which leads to unnecessarily long article names. There's also a policy that if a major character has a title or something change throughout the series, then their article takes their actual name (for example, "David Anderson" instead of "Captain Anderson"), but if that's the case, then Tali'Zorah nar Rayya should be moved to "Tali'Zorah". — M.C.Tales 17:00, June 7, 2011 (UTC) :I'm opposed to this as well as this cannot be a blanket policy. This is a case where it absolutely needs to be a case by case basis. If you have a problem with an individual article, then take it up on it's relevant talk page. Lancer1289 17:10, June 7, 2011 (UTC) ::I and others have brought it up before on article talk pages, with the proposals shot down on the basis of established policy/precedent. I am bringing it up here because I think that this policy/precedent should be changed. Anyway, articles like Administrator Anoleis would be moved to just "Anoleis", as his full name (being a salarian name) is very long. Yes, "Administrator Anoleis" is shorter than that, but "Anoleis" is even shorter. My point is just have a character's article not include a title in it. I'm not saying that every article should follow the same naming rules to the letter, just that many of the articles could use a different name. — M.C.Tales 17:41, June 7, 2011 (UTC) :::Yet you propose no such naming rules. As you demonstrate yourself, full name is impractical, due to the fact that salarians such as Rannadril Ghan Swa Fulsoom Karaten Narr Eadi Bel Anoleis have long names. So, should we use only last names? First names? As for your other examples, it must be pointed out that bringing up Anderson is a bit disingenuous. We cannot use Anderson's name and title, as anyone who has played the games knows, because his title in ME2 has not been canonically established. So, should we just assume we know better than BioWare and call him "Admiral" or "Councilor"? This proposal, while well-intentioned, seems poorly developed and as such, I cannot vote in favor of it. SpartHawg948 19:06, June 7, 2011 (UTC) ::::Okay, here is a rough draft: :::::# The article shall include the character's first and last name (if known). A character who has only their first or last name known shall be by their known name. :::::# Titles/ranks are not to be included in a character's article's name. :::::# In the case of salarians (except for Mordin Solus, whose full name is currently unknown), the article shall be named after their given name (which appears last in their full name); otherwise, the name provided by the screen (minus any titles) shall be used. :::::# If there are two characters who have the same name a set of parentheses with something specifying who they are shall be used (for example: "Delan (Mass Effect)" and "Delan (Mass Effect 2)". :::::# If a character is only known by their position (for example, a possible article on the Salarian Councilor), their article shall be called that until a name is provided. ::::Constructive criticism is welcome. — M.C.Tales 19:42, June 7, 2011 (UTC) :::::The guidelines make no allowance for quarians. Quarian names change during their lifetimes (and during the games and books). The example provided above, using Tali'Zorah, is specious. You state that the Tali'Zorah nar Rayya article should be moved to "Tali'Zorah" to reflect her change of title, but there is no change of title. nar Rayya, vas Neema, and vas Normandy are not titles. They are part and parcel of the quarian name. The comparison to David Anderson is actually valid, but for a reason other than what you intended. Moving Tali's article to "Tali'Zorah" is akin to moving David Anderson's article to "David Ander". It cuts off part of the name (the parts being roughly equivalent here - nar Rayya meaning "of Rayya" and son in Anderson meaning "son of", or "son of Ander/Anders). Again, I appreciate the effort and intent of the proposal, but think it impractical, and agree with Lancer here. If you have issues, addressing them on a case-by-case basis rather than proposing a Byzantine scheme of rules and loopholes based on "If the character is salarian..." "If the character is quarian...", and so forth. SpartHawg948 22:31, June 7, 2011 (UTC) :::::*Additionally, if we're only seeing a first rough draft now, after voting has commenced, perhaps it would be better to table voting for now. The reason I suggest this is because, while we'd be discussing the merits of and modifications to the rough draft, the clock would still be ticking, and once the week is up, the proposal is passed or defeated, regardless of the state of the draft. Of course, if you're fine with that, then there's no need to table anything. Just a suggestion. SpartHawg948 22:43, June 7, 2011 (UTC) ::::::Tabling the vote sounds nice. I'd say do it. — M.C.Tales 00:02, June 8, 2011 (UTC) :::::::Rog-o. Unfortunately, we don't have a "tabled" or "withdrawn" template, so we have to use the rejected template. Despite this, I've made a clear note in the edit summary that the motion has merely been tabled, not voted down. As such, there will be no issues with bringing it back up at a later date. SpartHawg948 00:18, June 8, 2011 (UTC)